


and ignite your bones

by TangerineTales



Category: Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, Super Sentai Series
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, One-Sided Attraction, Poor Takeru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 13:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4963039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TangerineTales/pseuds/TangerineTales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She is happiness and light, and he's almost tempted not to give her the Shodophone the first time they meet.</p><p>(Takeru doesn't know what to do with Kotoha.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	and ignite your bones

**Author's Note:**

> Currently blazing through Shinkenger, and it's completely captured my heart! While Chiaki/Kotoha is my O T P, I couldn't help but write this. Takeru is just a ball of angst and it's amazing.

Kotoha is happiness and light, and Takeru's almost tempted not to give her the Shodophone the first time they meet. Battle corrupts (as he knows very well) and he doesn't want to be the reason for why she loses that innocence. But there's little he can do to change the course of their destiny: he is her _tono_ ; and she, his retainer - and there is nothing they can do but finish their mission and defeat the Gedoushi.

He listens to her, sometimes, when she plays her flute. He barely knows anything about music (the only thing he fully understands is how his _ken_ feels in his hands), but knows how important it is to her. So he listens carefully, trying to detect any change in note, any possible indication of her feeling troubled. She doesn't know that he's listening, of course, which makes him feel like a bit of a creep, but he tells himself it's important to get to know his retainers. (Why he doesn't feel the same urge to follow Chiaki to an arcade, help Mako as she tries new dishes, or join Ryuunosuke's kabuki practice is something he chooses to deliberately ignore.)

Which is why his heart breaks a little when she says: " _Tono_ _-sama_ is _tono-sama_."

Why he always feels a little pinch of envy when he sees her with Chiaki - laughing and open, unafraid to be herself. Such a privilege doesn't extend to him - _tono-sama_ , as if that means anything other than being born into the right family.

But he keeps this in and bottles it up (he's good at doing that). It's enough to be in her presence, to see that she's still as carefree and innocent as ever, even after battle after battle.

Because no matter how much his common sense screams that it's dangerous to get too attached to anyone, that's what he's fighting for: to protect her, to keep her safe.

And maybe, after all of this is over, when the dust settles, they can meet, under different terms, as equals.

Maybe then, he'll finally just be  _Takeru._


End file.
